Tag Archive for youtube

13 Feb 2012
business growth • digital marketing • google plus • marketing • SEO • social media

How To Set Up Your Google Plus Business Page

Get Started with G+

In my last post, I discussed some of the reasons why businesses need to establish a presence on G+ as soon as possible.  This time we’re going to go through the process of setting up your profile and Google Plus business page.   If you don’t already have a personal G+ profile, you will need to set one up.  If you already have a Google account (gmail, YouTube etc) then it’s easy – otherwise just go to http://plus.google.com

google plus setup

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you would like more detailed instructions, below is one of the best G+ profile setup videos I’ve come across – the process is explained slowly and clearly. It will be easy to go ahead and setup your own profile while watching/pausing the video.

Did you get your profile set up OK?  Now for the next step!

Set Up Your G+ Business Page

In your personal profile,  look on the right hand side of the page and you will find a button to “create a google+ page”.

google+ page setup

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After clicking this, you are taken to the next screen where you need to choose the appropriate category for your page:

Create a Google+ Page

Choose a category for your page

 

As you can see, there are 5 categories:

  1.  Local Business or Place – includes any local business, e.g. restaurant, dentist, accountant, solicitor, hair salon etc.  If your business already has a Google Places listing, the details from that will be used, otherwise you’ll need to enter the business phone number and address.
  2.  Product or Brand – according to Google, this would include cars, financial services, clothing, electronics – food and drink brands would also come under this category.
  3.  Company, Institution or Organisation – also including charities and non-profit organisations
  4.  Arts, Entertainment or Sports –  pretty self-explanatory (books, films, musicians, bands, athletes etc)
  5.  Other – to be used when your business doesn’t fit into any of the above categories.

For all categories,  users will need to choose age ranges for which their page content will be appropriate, and there is a specific choice of “alcohol related” too.  Finally, you’ll need to tick the box agreeing to the G+ Page terms, before clicking the “Create” button Make sure you read these terms before creating your page – there are similar guidelines regarding competitions and promotions as there are with Facebook, so don’t fall foul of these!

Personalise Your Page

Congratulations, you have set up your Google Plus business page!  Now it’s time to personalise and customise the settings for your  page.  Firstly, you can give yourself a tagline (“10 words that describe your page best”, according to Google), and upload a profile photo. This would ideally be your business logo, but you can of course use any photo that represents your business.  Once you’ve created your tagline and uploaded a photo, click “Continue”.

You are then asked if you want to share this Google Plus business page with your G+ circles –  you probably won’t want to do this yet, as there’s no information on your page, so click “Finish”  (you can go back later and share your page)

Edit Your Profile

Click the profile icon (top of page to the left of the google search box)

g+ profile button

On the next screen, click the blue “Edit Profile” button and fill in as much information as you can –  remember to use the “Recommended Links” section to put in details of your social media profiles, and other websites/blogs you own or are associated with.  Don’t forget to use keywords throughout your profile!

Customise your Photostrip

You will see on the profile editing screen, below your page title, the words “add some photos here”.   You can add up to 5 photos and they do not change  on each page load as with Facebook.  You could even get creative and split one photo into 5……   Just to get you thinking, here are a few examples.

Start Posting!

Woohoo – your Google Plus business page is ready to share with the world!  Once you’ve posted a few updates,  use “Spread the Word” (in the right sidebar of your page) to share your page with your contacts.

Just as with your personal G+ profile, you are able to add contacts to “Circles” – the default Circles for a Google Plus business page are Following, VIPs, Customers and Team Members, but you can of course create new circles at any time. On G+ (unlike Facebook), you are able to follow your fans back, and add them to your page’s Circles.  It’s a powerful way of connecting with current and potential customers!  Your followers can +1 your posts and you can  do the same for their comments –  all of this adds to your visibility in Google search.

So what are you waiting for? I hope this has inspired you to get your business   established on Google Plus –  please share in the comments how you’re getting on, or if you’ve encountered any issues.

Need help setting up your G+ page? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
05 Feb 2012
business growth • google • google plus • SEO • social media

Google Plus For Business

What is Google Plus?


I know there are some of you out there that haven’t heard of Google Plus (I will refer to it as G+ for the rest of this article) – mentioning it often produces blank looks while chatting at networking events! So if you’re not aware, G+ is a new social network, launched by search giant Google on June 28th 2011.  Despite having initially been “invitation only”, the new network has grown at an unprecedented rate.

It is becoming increasingly important to use Google Plus for business, as I’ll explain below. According to this post by Paul Allen (“unofficial” G+ statistician), within 2 weeks it had 10 million users, rising to 38 million by October 1st 2011, and 62 million by December 27th 2011.  On January 19th 2012, Google CEO Larry Page announced that G+ now had 90 million users globally – more than 60 percent of whom use the site daily, and more than 80 percent of whom use G+ weekly.

Growth of G+

Equally interesting is the comparison with Facebook –  whose first 25 million users were added over 3 years, compared to G+’s 1 month.  On paper this looks astonishing, but when you consider how fast technology has developed in the 8 years since Facebook launched, it’s not so surprising.  A large percentage of the world’s population is now completely at home with social media, so the addition of a new network from a company as massive as Google, was always going to get a lot of attention.

G+ went “public” in September 2011, meaning that an invitation was no longer necessary to set up a personal profile on the  network.  On November 7th, business pages were launched, with this quote:

For business and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face. All you need to do is start sharing, and you’ll soon find the super fans and loyal customers that want to say hello.

Further Developments

Another major development followed on January 10th 2012, when Google announced “Search Plus Your World”, a significant change to its search algorithm.   What this means in a nutshell is that when you search for something now, priority will be given to your friends’ and contacts’ online experiences rather than links and domain authority.  Moreover, this makes your G+ network very important.  According to Marketing Land,  SPYW is a massive heads up from Google to businesses to get themselves set up on G+.

The week after SPYW was announced, another new feature was introduced whereby you can share and join in a conversation directly from search results.

Yet another telling sign is that now,  in order to sign up for YouTube, Gmail, or any other Google product, you first have to create a G+ account.

Google is certainly going all out to integrate search and social, and these recent updates will have a massive impact.  Businesses will  need to get up to speed with the changes and have strategies in place to take full advantage.  Clearly, the most important action to take immediately is to set up a G+ business page if you haven’t already done so.   I will write about how to do this in my next post  - stay tuned :)

Meanwhile if you’re already using Google Plus for business, why not add me to your circles?  (see link in the sidebar to the right)

Need help creating shareable content and establishing your presence on social networks, or need help setting up your G+ page? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , ,
01 Dec 2011
digital marketing • facebook • google • google plus • linkedin • marketing • mobile marketing • social media • twitter • youtube

Digital Marketing – An Integrated Approach

Wordle: Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing – Why You Need An Integrated Approach

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the need for an integrated approach to the whole digital marketing thing.  Social media is of course a vital component in any business marketing toolkit,  but it can’t stand on its own.  Traditional marketing also plays an important part,  as do the newer innovations as described below.

We already know that tweets, Facebook updates and Google Plus posts are indexed by google, (are you using keywords in your social media updates?)  and of course YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine.  So you should be establishing a presence on all of these networks and building your communities.

But how many businesses (thinking particularly of the UK here) are aware of the huge growth in mobile technology?  I’ve talked about this issue in a previous post on Mobile Marketing, and another where I discuss an infographic on Mobile Marketing Statistics.   I also suggested actions that business owners could take immediately to respond to this new revolution in digital marketing.  There’s no doubt that a high percentage of web browsing, search, and online shopping will take place via mobile devices in the very near future and businesses need to be ready.

Meanwhile, I would like to share this presentation.  It shows how to take an integrated approach to your social media activities.  Feel free to download if it will be helpful :)

Are you finding it easy to integrate traditional and newer marketing strategies?  Is your website optimised for mobile devices?   Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Need help with digital marketing? Take the first step! Contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

you can also TEXT

INF SOCIALMEDIA or INF SOCIALMEDIA + your email address  to 60777

to receive your free copy of my booklet “10 Reasons Why You Need to Get Up To Speed With Social Media”.

Naomi | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
19 Oct 2011
facebook • facebook pages • google • linkedin • marketing • social media • twitter • youtube

How To Do Social Media in 10 Easy Steps

social media bandwagon

http://www.flickr.com/photos/liako/

How To Do Social Media??

I go to quite a few local networking meetings, where I naturally get involved in conversations about social media.  I can’t recall a meeting where someone hasn’t said to me “I’ve set up a Facebook and Twitter account, but I don’t really know what to do now”……..
Yesterday I attended a “Blogging for Business” seminar. The speaker recommended blogging about questions that people have asked, and the topic of this post – How To Do Social Media –  immediately came to me

So, how to “do” social media??

  1. Sit down with a coffee and decide what you want to achieve with social media.  More website visitors?  More sales?  Building a community?  Being seen as the local expert in your field? The answer will probably be a combination of all these things.
  2. Also think about how you will track the results from your social media campaigns.  Google analytics is free and very powerful.  There are also various tools for tracking particular social media channels. Facebook has its own Page Insights and this has just been upgraded to give even more information.
  3. Consider your branding.  It’s important to be consistent across all the social networks so that your business is instantly recognisable.  Your social media pages should have the same branding as your website and blog.  Ideally your username should be consistent across all platforms, too.
  4. Set up your accounts.  It might be wise to start with just one or two so that you can get a feel for how they work.  If you dive into multiple networks straight away,  you’re more likely to give up.  We’re back to the original complaint of “I don’t know what do do”….
  5. I’d recommend starting with Twitter.  Many people find it difficult to believe that it can be useful for business. But if you persevere and take time to understand this platform you will soon appreciate its power. The key is consistency.  You can’t afford to miss tweeting for more than a day or two. This can seem impossible at first!
  6. If you follow my advice and start with Twitter,  ”listen” first. Begin by following a few people in your niche (find them via a google search),  watch what they’re tweeting about.  Look at who they’re following and who their followers are.  You might also want to follow some of these.  Then start to engage –  comment on what’s been posted, mention that you found it useful etc.
  7. Look for people in your local area and follow them.  Many will be local businesses who might need your services in the future.  Perhaps you’ve already met them at networking meetings? It’s always good to meet “tweeps” in the flesh after a few weeks of virtual chat!
  8. Remember, be consistent!  And don’t be tempted to use software that automatically adds followers – this is a waste of time as followers added this way are unlikely to be interested in what you have to offer. You need quality, not quantity.  It’s far better to grow your followers organically, and after a while this will start to happen without any action from you. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t continue looking for followers.
  9. When you feel that you’re familiar with Twitter and are starting to see results,  get set up on one of the other networks – LinkedIn is a good choice as it is very powerful for B2B connections and there are many possibilities for “networking” within the platform.  LinkedIn is known as the professionals’ social  network.
  10. Rinse and repeat the above with Facebook and YouTube if you wish!  A Facebook page is a must-have for most B2C businesses and can also be very useful for B2B.  YouTube is great if you have a lot of visual content,  but basically any business can produce powerful marketing videos without too much effort.  Hmmm…….about time I started with video :)

Has this helped to answer your question “How to do social media”?
If you’re still struggling and need advice on setting up and using social media accounts, start by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

 

Naomi | 6 comments | Tags: , , , , , , , ,
11 Oct 2011
facebook • facebook pages • google • linkedin • marketing • network marketing • social media • social networking • twitter • youtube

Social Media in Network Marketing

The Role of Social Media in Network Marketing

network marketing

image courtesy of duchessa: www.i-pix.it

 

I think it’s likely that most people nowadays know what’s meant by “social media” –  if you don’t, all you need do is browse around this website!   But do you know what network marketing is? A common misconception seems to be that it’s “pyramid selling”. Well, sorry, but pyramid selling is actually illegal – and who’d try to sell pyramids anyway??  :)  So, how about social media in network marketing?

Kleeneze, Avon, Herbalife, Forever Living, Utility Warehouse….

…. do any of these sound familiar?  Yes?  Well, they are all network marketing companies.  Network marketing (also known as MLM, multi-level marketing) is a simple business model. Individuals are recruited, but are not employed by the company. They are self-employed (usually as sole traders) and form part of a group or team.  Each team has various levels.  It’s up to the individual to sell products (which they buy at a discount)  to earn commission. It’s also beneficial to the individual if they can recruit others into their team.   The exact details vary between companies but there are incentives and bonuses for performance in both sales and recruiting. The larger the team, the greater the potential to earn more.

However,  this post isn’t intended to be an in depth study of network marketing as a business model.  Rather,  I would like to explore the role of social media in network marketing and why it’s a valuable asset. As it happens,  in addition to my social media business,  I am involved with two network marketing companies – Wikaniko and Neal’s Yard Remedies Organic.  More information is available on my Eco-Friendly Living website.

I’ve found social media invaluable in promoting my activities with these companies.  Of course, as with any business, social media in network marketing is not the answer to all your problems, but it does add value to the mix.  I’d go so far as to say it’s essential for network marketers.

Social Media Your Strategy For Success

With most network marketing schemes,  you’re aiming to sell products and recruit new team members.  Chances are that a high percentage of potential buyers, and potential recruits, are already on the social networks.  It’s your job to find them!   At the least I’d suggest setting up a Facebook Page (preferably with a custom landing tab as these have been shown to generate more “Likes” – and a Twitter account.  You might also consider getting yourself established on LinkedIn, to gain professional credibility.  There are a number of discussion groups on LinkedIn for network marketers.  YouTube would also be an excellent channel for promoting your products and sharing the benefits of joining your team!

Once you’re set up on the social networks,  you need to find potential customers and team members.  Don’t post a string of updates promoting your latest products – that will turn people off immediately.  It’s all about being subtle,  not shouting about yourself. Post links to interesting information about your niche,  e.g. general health and wellness if you’re a Herbalife or Forever Living distributor. Search on Twitter for tweets asking about your company or products,  or just general information related to your niche.  Follow “thought leaders” in your field of interest and begin engaging with them.  It’s OK to post “sales” updates occasionally,  but no more than 10-20% of your posts should be self-promotion. Set up Google Alerts for topics around your niche,  browse a selection of blogs and share links to these.  You might find this post useful if you’re not sure of the best way to do this.  Give value to your followers and always invite comments and questions.  If someone responds to your update,  always reply and invite further engagement.

Don’t expect things to happen overnight –  it will take weeks or more likely months, to build up a following. It can be hard work to keep your community engaged – you have to keep at it and not abandon your Facebook or Twitter accounts for long periods.  If you’re not sure of the best way to maintain your presence on social media,  you might consider getting help from a professional.   Your social media strategy will pay dividends in the long run, but plenty of patience is a must!

Are you in network marketing? Need advice on setting up and using social media accounts?  Start by contacting me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

you can also TEXT

INF SOCIALMEDIA or INF SOCIALMEDIA + your email address  to 60777

to receive your free copy of my booklet “10 Reasons Why You Need to Get Up To Speed With Social Media”.

Naomi | 5 comments | Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
12 Sep 2011
facebook • linkedin • marketing • social media • twitter • youtube

The Angelic Bulldog Project – Social Media Promotion

Angelic Bulldog concept

The Angelic Bulldog Project – World Motorcycle Speed Record Attempt

What on earth is the Angelic Bulldog Project, you may well ask?

I had certainly never heard of it until last month, when I was at a training workshop. I got chatting with Jenni of Successfully Yours, and she explained that a group based in Lincoln were planning an attempt on the world motorcycle speed record. This would probably to take place in 2012, and they needed someone to help out with marketing and promotion via social media. As the Angelic Bulldog project is run by volunteers, there would be no remuneration, but the reward would be an advertisement on the sponsors’ website and possibly a logo on the machine itself!

I know absolutely zero about motorbikes and to be honest they terrify me – I was taken for rides by my cousin-in-law a few times many years ago and never particularly enjoyed it. Driving a car at 70mph is quite scary enough for me! The idea of a motorbike travelling at 400mph just doesn’t bear thinking about…… but that’s what the Angelic Bulldog could be doing next year.

The Angelic Bulldog team’s Guiding Principles are to:

  • bring back to Britain the outright Land Speed Record on two wheels
  • achieve worldwide recognition for British engineering skills and talent
  • utilise British design, manufacturing, engineering, products and services where possible
  • restore Britain’s heritage of outstanding engineering achievements
  • educate young people through a series of educational programmes to maximise their potential, especially within science and engineering
  • produce project-generated educational resources that are complimentary to the school curriculum
  • renew enthusiasm for science and engineering subjects with regard to future careers for young people in Britain
  • inspire and encourage young British people to be the best they can be.

So here I am as a member of the PR team for the project! We have a Facebook Page, YouTube Channel, LinkedIn profile, and you can also follow us on Twitter. Please support this exciting project.

The Angelic Bulldog project team welcomes new sponsors – various levels of involvement are possible. Find out more at the Angelic Bulldog Sponsors site.

Angelic Bulldog logo

Need help promoting your project or business via social media? You can contact me on 01777 249075
or by email at info@naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , , , , ,
06 Jul 2011
blogging • business growth • facebook • google • marketing • SEO • social media • social networking • twitter • youtube

60 Seconds Online – Implications For Your Business

Infographics are very popular nowadays, and for good reason – they present a lot of useful information and statistics in an easy to understand format. This one from Dave Ansett at Truly Deeply is very enlightening – and thought-provoking!

60 Seconds on the Net

  • 98,000+ tweets per minute. Latest statistics show 20% of tweets relate to brands or products, that’s nearly 20,000 tweets every minute – are they talking about your brand? Do you know what they’re saying? If not, why aren’t they, and if they are, shouldn’t you be listening and interacting?
  • 13,000+ iPhone downloads. Is your brand/product one of the many without a brand app presence?
  • 25+ hours of YouTube video. YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world – do you have a channel for your brand?
  • 1,500+ blog posts per minute. Incredible! That’s a heck of a lot of people blogging daily. A major proportion of buying decisions are now made online – blogs are loved by google due to their frequently updated (we hope!) content, so there’s no excuse for your business not to have a blog. Your blog should be your “home base” on the web.
  • 695,000+ Facebook status updates per minute – there are now more Facebook posts than Google searches. Facebook has literally become its own communication channel – a brand without a Facebook strategy is somewhat like a business without a website would have been, 15 years ago.
  • 100+ new LinkedIn accounts per minute – can you afford not to be on LinkedIn, the premier social network for businesses?

Things are moving very fast in the world of Web 2.0 – now we have Google Plus, and shortly we’ll have Skype Integration with Facebook – are you keeping up? Is there anything you might need help with?

Naomi | No comments | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
30 Jun 2011
business growth • facebook • google • SEO • social media • social networking • twitter • youtube

Social Media Revolution 2011

Recently I was very pleased to have an article I’d written on social media published in our local community magazine Retford Life. This also coincided with the launch of the magazine’s website as well as that of their publishing company Life Publications I had forgotten the exact date of the website launch so, until I saw it mentioned on Twitter, I was a bit puzzled as to why I’d had so many visits to my website on Tuesday of this week! Once again, proof of the amazing power of social media……. If you want to read my article, it’s on page 38.

I’m also including it here. (the video is an absolute must-watch!) Read the rest…

Naomi | One comment | Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
 

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